What I'm Watching: Reality, The Succession Finale, And A Pre-Twilight Zone Rod Serling Film

Sydney Sweeney, Reality, HBO

Here’s the rundown on everything I watched, read, and wrote about this week.

The shows:

• This is another one of those weeks where most of what I’m watching is under embargo, but I feel obligated to officially announce that I’m starting Cheers from the beginning. That’s right, where everybody knows your name. I put off watching this show chronologically until I finished M*A*S*H because the two share a heap of writers and I wanted to see how the sitcom evolved from the ‘70s to the ‘80s. I’m only 10 episodes in, but I’m having a blast. Also: boy, they’re really 0 to 60 with the Sam and Diane of it all right out the gate, huh?
• I’ve had a high-stress couple of weeks and have been trying to take more nights off (as opposed to nights where I stay up late and write after work), which has led to some exceedingly random but mostly wonderful viewing choices. Among them: Leguizamo Does America, a travel show on Peacock in which actor John Leguizamo visits Latinx cultural hotspots across the country, interviewing leaders and artists from Latin-American communities and celebrating local cuisine, culture, history, and more. This show is pretty great, and Leguizamo keeps it very real, especially when it comes to Hollywood’s abysmal track record representing people of color.
• I’ve been watching some of the recorded TV plays from Criterion’s Golden Age of Television collection, and they’re really interesting (if you’re a TV geek). The collection basically includes some of the earliest recorded TV movies – at that point live theatrical productions – from the 1950s. So far I’ve watched Patterns (a pretty straightforward office fable from Rod Serling about how capitalism kills), No Time For Sergeants (an insufferable military comedy written by Ira Levin that was Andy Griffith’s on-screen debut), and Marty (a surprisingly frank outsider romance written by Network scribe Paddy Chayefsky, starring Rod Steiger). All three were later turned into feature films. I have plenty more from this collection to sift through, and none of these blew me away, but Marty – which almost has the mood of a Tennessee Williams play – is my favorite of these first three.

The movies:

• Reality is a new (HBO) Max movie starring Sydney Sweeney, and it’s a pretty stunning feature directorial debut from writer-director Tina Satter. Adapted from Satter’s own play, the movie uses FBI transcripts to tell the story of the interrogation of Reality Winner, who was arrested for leaking a secret NSA document in 2017. The film is formally unique, endlessly tense, and grounded by Sweeney’s great, subtle performance. Look out for an interview with the filmmaker and star coming from me later this week!
• All the Marty Scorsese talk has me filling in blind spots: this week it’s The Aviator, a sweeping portrait of obsession and perfectionism. There was so much I didn’t expect with this one – the bipack coloring! The OCD! Adam Scott and Cate Blanchett! – and so much I loved.
• I think James Whale’s 1932 classic The Old Dark House is a triumph in terms of makeup and cinematography, but not much else. It’s extremely grating at times and definitely doesn’t reach the narrative highs of his other works, like Frankenstein.

Odds and ends:

• Succession is over, and I think its ending was perfect. I’ll probably write more about it this week, but for now, here’s my take on the story through the lens of one of the show’s most popular motifs – dangerous water. For a truly phenomenal take on the finale, read Allison Picurro’s essay for TV Guide.
• I’ve seen a lot of hate for the Yellowjackets finale, but I thought it was pretty great and thought season 2 was excellent overall. Here’s one piece I wrote about some clues this last episode dropped about its hunting ritual, and another about an unresolved mystery from back in season 1 – who the hell is the girl in the pit?!
• I appreciated the Barry finale more than I loved it. I’ll be chatting about it at length in a podcast episode I’ll share with y’all when it’s out.
• Don’t mind me, still playing catch-up on reviews from this month since I got a bit behind. Here are my takes on Apple TV+ series Platonic and the last season of Happy Valley, both of which I’ve mentioned in past newsletters.
• I’ve been trying to get into the American Hysteria podcast but haven’t found an episode that’s hooked me. If any newsletter readers happen to be listeners, comment and let me know what your favorite episodes are!
• Slashfilm recently dropped a list of our 100 favorite movies of all time, as voted on by several of our editors and writers including myself. The final product is sure to be divisive (personally, the picks skew more American and male than my own list), but a lot of people worked hard on it and wrote about films they truly loved, and it absolutely shows. You should really read the whole thing, but if you need to be enticed, know that I wrote the entries about Dog Day Afternoon, The Graduate, It's A Wonderful Life, Night of the Living Dead, The Shining, Some Like It Hot, and When Harry Met Sally (plus complementary picks for each of those).

That’s what I’ve been watching (and writing, and listening to). Now how about you? Comment and let me know what you’ve been into lately, I’d love to hear about it.